>> … it would be interesting to hear people’s experience of individual artworks–have you ever seen an artwork that moved you, disgusted you, interested you, disinterested you…? If so, why? What was it about that artwork that was effective / ineffective?

an artwork that moved me:
Ben Quilty’s “After Afghanistan” series of paintings – example, his Captain S After Afghanistan painting. the pose and expression on the face and application of paint in such thick strokes and the mix of colours and expressive marks/brushstrokes & use of light and dark/shadow evokes strong emotions in me — in both the technique of the painting and the subject and meaning behind it.

an artwork that disgusted me:
when I first saw Chris Jordan’s photographs of dead sea birds with stomachs full of plastic. it wasn’t the technical properties of the photo that disgusted me — it was the scenario and the thought of the poor birds eating all the plastic waste of ours. and that this wouldn’t be an isolated case. I was more disgusted at human beings for being so wasteful and causing harm to such beautiful creatures than the actual images, which are disturbing to see.

Fred Williams’ Trees on Hillside II interests me due to the painting technique. The blobs and dabs of paint on the hardboard up close looks like Williams has just blotted random brush wipes of paint onto the surface, but when you see the painting from a distance you see the landscape and environment emerge. The colours in the blobs of paint blend. It reminds me of a deconstructed pointillism work, with the dots of paint widely spaced instead of close together. It amazes me that just a few dashes of brushstrokes can be so expressive and a modern version of the traditional landscape or rural painting.

the problem with art that disinterests me is that it usually means I don’t know enough about it and I’ve based my reaction on my initial aesthetic response to the work or what I think the work is about. once I find out more about the work, then it becomes more interesting. for example I saw a video of Liu Chengrui (Guazi)’s work, Guazi Moves Earth (2008), during a recent visit to White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney. at first I wasn’t really interested in finding out more, but as I walked around more and then read the artwork label/description, it became more interesting to me due to the artist’s idea behind the work. at first I was thinking, what’s this guy doing lying on his stomach and shuffling along the ground. once I learn more about the concept I appreciated the pose of the artist and the resulting art work.

>> Does it help to know about the historical / conceptual background of the artwork or is it better to experience it without prior knowledge?

I think it depends on the work — some work I can see on its own without an explanation, but for more conceptual / experimental / performance art work I often prefer to find out what the ideas of the artist were so I can understand the context better.

today’s drapery study/drawing. I’m happy with how the fabric drapes over the edge of the box. though now I see the photo I can see parts in the middle & top that don’t match reality & the tones are bit out but hopefully they still have the feel of draping fabric. back to painting next week.

I’ve finished my contemporary sculpture class, VSW13. it was very interesting, though I had some setbacks at home during this class. results should be in within next couple of weeks. I feel I still have much to learn about sculpture and there were many things I would have liked to explore further, such as more installation, digital/online sculptures, sound sculptures and more molding and casting. I really enjoyed making molds and casts of fabric to try capture the folds, and to explore transforming the fabric from soft -> hard and temporary -> permanent. it fits well with my drawing/painting class on Saturdays. it was interesting to explore everyday materials as they were more accessible (& cheaper) in most cases

next up is VIS18 – an art history subject, so it’s less hands-on making and more research & essay writing.

we went along to the Tracing Materiality exhibition on Sunday. the artists had been doing some continuous drawings on large rolls of paper, as well as wall drawings, and working with wax. I’m going to try make it to the talk on the 20th march too. I loved all the work! and there was a stack of drawing books for me to chase up also 🙂

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event details via https://www.facebook.com/events/1668459076503049:

‘Tracing Materiality’ is a project and exhibition by Sydney based artists Gillian Lavery, Renuka Fernando and Kath Fries. Exploring expanded drawing practices that move beyond drawing as representation to focus on materiality and mark making. The artists’ process-based approaches are open-ended, improvisational and unfolding, taking place live within the gallery over the exhibition’s duration.

Opening night with the artists and MOST wrap party Sunday 6th March 6-8pm.
Exhibition open from 5th March to 20th March. Thurs- Sun 11am-4pm

after the still life, I worked on a drapery study – I keep typing this as drawpery! I had my “aha” moment towards the end of the second week’s class, so will start a new one next week. I had been trying to draw more expressively and scribble and smudge with my finger, but my teacher said to draw individual lines as they convey more information. individual lines is my natural way of drawing, so I’ll go back to this next week. it was hard to erase some of the original marks I’d made. I was getting the hang of it by the end of week 2’s class, so will practice more next week

week2 – March 5 2016:

my teacher, Rosalind, brought in a copy of her booklet “Drawing Notes for Art Students” by Jocelyn Maughan and Robin Norling which was a great help. there were drawing tips and techniques inside, showing how to crosshatch and draw draping fabric

I handed in my last/third assessment for VAR100 yesterday. this is the last week of class. and also it’s O-week for my next subject VSW13 Fine Art Studio Materials (intro to sculpture). I don’t know much about sculpture apart from what I’ve learned in VSW100 & VAR100, so I’m looking forward to learning more and finding out where/if I might fit into the sculpture making mode. I think I’m tending towards etextiles / installation work / technology but also “slow” work, but perhaps I’ll be surprised with something new as I have been in previous classes. they’ve all been eye opening, especially the artist research (even if I write it up too slowly – am working on writing it up straight away for this class, this helped in previous class)